Mineral-separating apparatus.



A. s. LOVENTHAL & E. c. NUNNELLEY.

MINERAL SEPARATING APPARATUS.

v APPLICATION FILED AUGJI. 1910. 1,297,372.

Patented Mar. 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEEI' I- Zjvwwnto :4, v rW/Ason 6. L wenf/ml A. S. LO VENTH AL & E C. NUNNELLEY.

MINERAL SEPARATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUGJL 198. l,29?,372, Patented Mar.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

i/filion 6. Ace 3)? @NXTED gl de Tedd PATENT? @FFEQEED' ALLISON S. LOVENTHAL, 0F BIRMINGHAM, AND EMMETT C. NUNNELLEY, OF ASHLANB, ALABAMA.

MINEEtAfi-SEYARATING APPARATUS.

Application filed august 17, 1 918.

' a. separating box wherein the mineral is subjected to a novel arrangement of agitating jets and Water sprays and caused to pass through a body of liquid therein from Will ch a conveyor in the boX emerges and discharges the tailings at one end while the lines float out with the ovcrtlow from the other end of the box.

It is an importantfeature of our invention that the bottom of the separating box should be not only inclined to a. horizontal plane but adapted for ready adjustment as to its inclination so that the Water level in the be can be regulated to permit a conveyer z-icting to raise and discharge the tailing. to emerge a sufficient distance from the 'tailings discharge to drain the fluid from the tailings back into the box and also to expose the tailin s to the direct action oi jets. I o v A further novel feature of our invention relates to the manner of discharging t 1e tail ings from the separating boxes and to this end We preferably employ a screw conv which emerges from the fluid and is ranged to provide an ample clearance at one side so that the fluid drained from the tailiugs vwili flow in a stream lengthwise along the agitated mass of tailings being acted on by the conveyer and will collect therefron'i appreciable quantities of the graphite and carry it back into the Zone of intense agitation when it passes oii with the fines.

Our invention further contemplates the utilization of a number of these separating boxes having the construction above doscrihed and which are arranged to act in deli-- nite sequence on the material under treatmenii Our process is first, to separate the heavy sand from the hull: of the qraphite,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar, 18, 1919.

Serial No. 250,408.

the heavy sand and the small percentage of graphite therein being delivered to a similar separating box having its Water jets and sprays suited. to the coarsest grade of sand so as to recover the graphite therefrom and pass it to a deu'atering screen. The fine sand and main bulk of the graphite overdo m from the initial sepa 'ating box and are passed successively through two other similarly constructed separating boxes referred to as boxes No.2 and No. 3. In box No. 2 the jets and sprays are adapted to cause the overflow of the major portion of the graphite to a deu'atering screenwhile its tailings are treated in box No. 3 and the graphite recovered passed to its respective dehydrating screen.

Our invention :Futher contemplates the provision of novel Water 'e ting arrangements sui d to act on the dirlcreut grades of material in the different separating boxes to the end that the desired agitation will be obtained, preferably in the presence of an oil which will bring about the necessary separa.

tion and induce the flotation of the fines toward the fluid discharge.

Our invention further comprises the novel details of constru tion and arrangements of parts, which in their preferred embodinie ts onl are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and in which Figure 1 illustrates in vt lcai section one of our improved separating; boxes.

Fi 2 is a section taken on the line of 1.

Fig 3 isa plan view of Fig.

is a detail. View ill, structure and arrangement of spray; and

F 5 a diagrammatic view iiillsi'itiillll l theprocess of treatment of the material in a plurality of separating boxes.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

in describing our invention, reference will first be made to a typical separating box shown in Figs. 1 to 3. The hos: is iutrrow having a. bottom wall 1, side Walls 2 and deep and Wall 4: at one end While the other end wall is omitted and replaced by cross bearing for the upper end of the shaft 6 of a screw conveyor '7' which extends from end to end of the ho); along" its bottom Wall 1 and is set to one side of the center more rating the the water made fast to the top of the box.

cured-to the end wall 4, while the upper end of the shaft projects beyond the bearing 5 and carries a driving pulley 9. Below the open end of the box is a tailing chute 10' and near the wall l'is an overflow opening 11 in a side wall 2. The bottom of this opening, which fixes the fluid level in the tank, is below the upper end of the bottom 1 so that the fluid level will leave a sub-- stantial portion of the upper end of the conveyor exposed. The box is mounted in any suitable manner, preferably having its raised tailing discharge end supported by an adjustable element such as a jack 12 by means of which the ang lair disposition of the bottom wall 1 and e'] oint of emergence above the water levelof th conveyer can be adjusted to suit ditl'erent conditions.

A water spray pipe 13 is disposed lengthwise of and centrally above the water tank and is supported by suitable cross straps 14 The water under pressure is delivered to this pipe from any-suitable source and is discharged into the tank by means of a serieswofifjets and sprays which are more clearlyillustrated in Fig. 1. Our preferred arrangement of these jets and sprays comprises four jets 15, 16, 17 and 18 arranged in the pipe end nearest the overflow llan d opposite the point of admission of the crushed ore. In practice .these jets have been spaced 'on'seven and one-half inch centers, but this may be varied tmsuit the peculiar conditions under treatment. These jets are set at different angles to produce the most effective agitation of the fluid in the tank, our preferred arrange ment being to set the jets 15 and 16 at opposite angles of approximately 15 to a vertical plane lengthwise of the box. The jet 17 is arranged vertically and the jet 18 is angularly inclined like the jet 15 toward the conveyer. Next to the jets 15 to-lS and. widely spaced therefrom is a vertical jet 19 which comes substantially opposite the center of the box. Next to the jet 19 is a spray formed by a plate 20 mounted on the pipe and disposed at a rearward inclination so as to catch and discharge the fluid passing through an opening 2]. in the bottom of the pipe." This spray is disposed to strike the top of the water a few inches to the right (Fig. 1)*of the point of emergence of the screw conveyer. A jet 22, similar to 19, is arranged substantially above the'point of emergence of the screw conveyer, and a rearwardly inclined spray 23, similar to 20, is arranged and disposed to strike the conveyer and the exposed tailings near the latters point of discharge. The crushed ore is delivered into the box by means of a chute 2 1 which enters opposite the jet 17. Each of the jets 15. lb. 17, 18. 19 and 22 is controlled by its respective pet cock 25 so that the volmergers .ume of each jet may be regulated to the delight while the j et 17 is heaviest and strong;-

est and the jet 18 is slightly less forcible than the jet 17. The jets 19 and 22 are light like the jets 15 and 16. I

In operation, the crushed ore enters by thechute 21 and falls into the body of liquid in the box opposite the heavy jet 17 which is strong enough to penetrate to the bottom of the tank and agitate the liquid and tailings there. This jet l7 and the adjacent divergent jets 15, 16 and 18 produce a considerable agitation of the fluid which causes the lighter particles to tend to separate themselves from the tailings and to rise and overflow through the discharge 11. The tailings together with a portion of the lighter particles settle to the bottom of the tank and are there acted upon by the conveyer 7 and forced thereby upwardly toward the tailing chute 10. The tailings are agitated by the jets 19 and 22 which act with increasing intensity thereon due to the decreasing depth of liquid and by stirring up the railings 10 to liberate any lighter particles therein. The spray 20 acts to drive any floating particles toward discharge 11. As the conveyer emerges from the fluid the body of tailings being agitated and -ted thereby is subjected to the action of the spray 23 and also to the stream of fluid returning between the con veyer and the wall 2, which liquid drains from the tailings and in flowing back into the body of liquid in the box it collects and carries an appreciable amount of graphite which would otherwise pass off with the tailings.

In Fig. 5 we illustrate a diagrammatic layout for a plant utilizing. our separating boxes in which the box designated No. 1 received the crushed ore from the mill. The fines flow therefrom by a trough 26 to the separating box No. 2 and are there acted upon in the manner described with the tines, V

recovered from box U0. 2 )assin oil throu;rh chute 27h) a dehydrating screen 28. while the tailings from box No. 2 pass oil by a chute 29 to the box No. and are again acted upon there, the fines passing off by a chute 30 to a dehydrating screen 31 while the failings pass along a chute 32 to the dump. The tailing-s from the separating box No. 1 are conducted by a chute 33 to the separating box No. 41-, whence the fines pass by a'chute 34: to the dehydrating screen 36 whilethe tailings pass by a chute 37 to the to the dump while the graphite and lighter, 130

-th eir spacing, angularity and as to the intensity of the jets all-as may be empirically determined to be best in each case. The type or arrangement of conveyor is that which we have found best suited to the recovery of graphite, but other equivalent forms of conveyers may be substituted with approximate results.

This invention is not intended to be restricted in scope to the specific embodiments shown, but conten'iplates such modifications as come within the spirit and scope of the claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a mineral separating apparatus, a narrow elongated fluid containing tank having at one end an overflow port and being tiltedupwardly to expose at its other end a portion of its bottom above the level of fluid therein, a screw conveyer working lengthwise through said tank to elevate and discharge the tailings, means to introduce the crushed ore at an intermediate point into the tank, and a plurality of jets and sp 'ays to agitate'the fluid in the tank, said screw conveyer being set close to one side and the bottom of the track and adapted to'leave between it and the more remote side of the tank a narrow water way for the back flow of drainage water, and said jets being disposed divergently at different angles transversely of the tank while the sprays are sharply. inclined toward the overflow end of the tank.

2. In a mineral separating apparatus, a narrow elongated tank containing liquid and tilted to increase the depth of said'liquid toward one end, there being an overflow for fines at said latter end, a 'conveyer for moving the tailings toward the elevated end of the tank and discharging them there,

which conveyer emerges from the liquid in the tank, and a water pipe extending lengthwise and centrally over the tank and having a plurality of divergent water jets, opposite the point of admission of crushed mineral and other jets and sprays arranged at intervals toward the elevated end of the tank, the sprays being inclined counter to the direction of movement of the tailings to impinge on the water surface at an acute angle.

3.111 a mineral separating apparatus, an elongated narrow tank containing liquid and tilted to increase the depth of said liquid toward one end, there being an overflow for fines at said latter end, a conveyer for moving the tailings toward the elevated end of the tank and c" 'harging them there, which conveyer emerges from the liquid at an intermediate point in the tank and is disposed to leave a substantial clearance between it and one side wall only of the tank, a water pipe extending lengthwise over the tank and having a plurality of divergent water jets opposite the point of admission of crushed mineral, a plurality of jets and sprays ar' ranged between said divergent jets and the elevated end of the tank, said sprays being directed to induce a current toward said overflow for the fines, and said jets being directed to agitate the mineral while under motion responsive to said conveyor.

4. In a mineral separating apparatus, a narrow elongated tank, a screw conveyer working lengthwise in the bottom. thereof, adjustable 'means to tilt the tank to expose the desired length of the discharge end of the conveyer, there being an overflow port for fines at the lower end of the tank and an outlet for tailings at the raised end of the tank, and a plurality of water jets and sprays arranged lengthwise of and disposed to act on the mineral on the tank, the sprays being inclined toward said overflow for fines and the jets being set at variant angles laterally of the tank, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

ALLISON S. LOVENTHAL.

EMMETT C. NUNNELLEY.

I Witness:

NOMIE VELSH. 

